Slainte-Mhath
Springbank 25 Year 2019 Edition
Single Malt — Campbeltown, Scotland
Reviewed
April 26, 2020 (edited May 2, 2020)
What is a special occasion? A round birthday? Wedding day? Being alive after 4 weeks with COVID-19 definitely ticks all the boxes, so let's pop the cork of Springbank 25! Matured in a combination of sherry and rum casks, the nose features tropical fruits, sugar cane molasses and fresh herbs, sage and thyme in particular. Complex wood spices, dark chocolate and quality rum notes dominate the palate, followed by pineapple, orange zest and whiffs of smoke. The finish is long and herbal with a salty edge. A great dram for sure, but not as great as I thought.
RATING: 4.4/5.0 stars ≙ 90 pts → SUPERB [-]
550.0
EUR
per
Bottle
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@LeeEvolved Next time I re-visit this bottle, I will drink to your continued health. If it wasn't for the hassle of import restrictions, I'd happily send you a sample of this 'hurray, we have survived COVID-19 bottle'.
@PBMichiganWolverine Yeah we are lucky in that rational decision making trumps populist 'it's all about me and scoring points' behavior (an adept pun!). Community transmission (for now) appears to have ceased so as of midnight several hours ago we moved from level 4 to 3. We can now order takeaways...woohoo!
@Slainte-Mhath but, it’s great to see the news from @Soba45 ‘s country NZ——seems like they’ve been successful in the fight. Just a few cases now. Gotta hand it to Jacinda Arnett...such an effective leader
@PBMichiganWolverine Norway has closed down entirely, and it is estimated that only 1% of the population had COVID-19. Less than 200 people are hospitalized atm. Not sure if Sweden's approach is working, they didn't manage to isolate the old and vulnerable, and their death toll is 10x higher compared to Norway.
@Slainte-Mhath how is Norway managing the pandemic? Sweden’s approach of herd immunity seems to be working, at least right now. I’ve not been to Sweden, but If it’s like Norway, it probably has its core population in a few cities, and the rest sparsely populated throughout the countryside.
@jonwilkinson7309 No, I didn't lose my sense of smell and taste, but my wife did. Took almost a month before she could nose a whisky again.
@Slainte-Mhath If this is a freshly opened bottle let us know what it's like in a couple of weeks.
Glad you're recovering. Any loss of smell or taste from the CV19? Sounds like you're firing on all cylinders.
Glad youre on the mend
@Slainte-Mhath glad you’re feeling better. Nice reentry. Stay well!
Glad you are feeling better and a good way to celebrate! :-). Would be interested to know how the bottle evolves with time open especially (if it lasts) around the year mark.
A funny observation: The main reason for not giving this malt a higher score was the nose. It was fair, but it had lost its Springbank funk. Now I don't know if this is very flattering, but the empty glass improved the nose significantly! Suddenly, the Springbank character was back, previously hidden by cask influence.
@PBMichiganWolverine @cascode Thanks, it has been a very tough time, and I am still recovering from my pneumonia.
Welcome back on deck.
Glad to see you’re recovered from CV19.
Additonal comment: I read several reviews before I bought this Springbank, so I knew that it could hardly meet the high expectations. That's the disadvantage when all the 'younger' expressions are already outstanding! However, it was still worth the experience, so I am not disappointed.
Additional comment: Released in 2019, matured in 60% ex-sherry and 40% ex-rum casks, limited to 1,200 bottles. This Springbank 25 is different from earlier releases, as it contains some 25-year-old rum casks.